Freezing Summer Rain
by Xenophili
Summary: "Why do you like the rain so much?" "It's the only weather I can feel. Not like heat." "But you can feel the sun, too." "No," he said."Not like rain. I can understand it, even though I'm blind and can't see it."
1. Introductions

_[A/N] This is a new story, and as it stands it can go either way, as a yaoi or straight and still work out beautifully. However that is not up to me, it is up to you. There's a poll on my profile where you can go vote as to which you want. The outcome of the story will be ultimately the same, but the interactions and friendships will be majorly different._

Chapter One: Introductions

"You never told me how long I was going to be staying here, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto complained as he moved his boxes of few belongings into his new house of residence. Iruka had come along to help him with the move, and to also introduce him to the person he would be staying with.

"That's because I don't know, Naruto," Iruka grunted as he set a particularly heavy box down. "The date was set indefinitely."

"Ehhh, that's lame," Naruto whined as he also set down a box, the last one they were moving in.

"You shouldn't be complaining about it. You're not living in an apartment anymore, and living here free of charge. That doesn't exactly happen to every therapist-in-training." Iruka stated rather matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, yeah, I got that already!" Naruto said as he stretched and looked about the room.

It was fairly big for a bedroom, rather Japanese-oriented with sliding doors, and a futon folded up neatly in a corner away from all the brown boxes scattered every which way. The room had two drawers set up in opposite corners, and a television set in the middle of the left wall set on the floor.

"Didn't even know houses like this existed anymore," Naruto noted to no one in particular.

"Of course they do, but this is just one of the older homes in this area, and was never knocked down for reconstruction like what's being done to most of the houses these days. The owner of it now wants it to stay this way, because it's what's most familiar to him." Iruka said to catch Naruto up on the owner's history.

"Because he's blind right?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Iruka said as he stood from his kneeling position on the floor where he was opening the brown box he was carrying with a knife. "It's hard enough that he had to learn to do everything over again from going blind, but also having to re-memorize the place where he lives would have been too much stress on the mind. That's why he's preferred people come to him than the other way around. He feels more secure." Iruka handed the knife to Naruto and motioned for him to open his box.

"So, where is he? I haven't seen this Sasuke guy since we came here!" Naruto said as he took the knife from Iruka and began opening his own box and taking out its contents.

"I believe he's in a room somewhere in the back of the house. I think that's where he said he would be, anyways." Iruka said in thought as he tried to remember what he had been told a few days ago. "He said we could go see him once you were settled and comfortable."

"Did he really say that, Iruka-sensei? Cause this person doesn't exactly feel like the warm type to me," Naruto questioned. He began putting some of his clothes from the boxes in his drawers.

Iruka shrugged. "Well, something like that. But anyways, you need to be careful with him, Naruto. There's a reason why he's the way he is, and it's a very sensitive subject with him."

"Yeah, I got it. 'Approach every situation with caution.' But I don't get it, why have me instead of someone more experienced, if it's something so sensitive?"

Iruka motioned for Naruto to come sit with him on the floor as he explained more. He opened the messenger bag he'd brought along with him and handed Naruto Sasuke's file. It said 'Patient 10037' on the extended label. "That's because professionals have tried to help him before, but it didn't work. If anything it only made him worse. So now we decided to try someone more on his level, kind of on a more casual level, than a professional and patient relationship. That's why you're living with him, and also to help him around the house. He's had caretakers before, but he's driven them all mad." Iruka paused here so Naruto had a chance to open and examine the file.

"Driven them mad? What, you mean his insanity is contagious?" Naruto asked as he studied the picture that was clipped to the papers inside. Though the teen was only eighteen, as given by his birth date, it looked like he had taken a trip to hell and back. His eyes were deep black and clouded over, as if he had never seen the light before in his whole life. His hair, that reached just a bit above his shoulders, matched the color of his eyes. His face had a sunken quality to it, obtained through years of solitude, like this person would never be happy again.

"Not likely, Naruto. I mean he usually drove them out of the house with his own insanity, screaming in the middle of the night, lashing out in bouts of rage for no reason, and being a danger to those around while he's in one of his less-than-pleasant moods. They simply couldn't handle it, they said." Iruka explained as Naruto continued to study the file.

According to his papers, the patients name was Sasuke Uchiha. He had suffered severe mental trauma about eleven years back, and because of it lost his sight. He was admitted to a mental hospital where he underwent 24-hour surveillance and heavy mental-rehabilitation to try and recover his sight. However every method to date had failed. This they believe it was due to the patients unwillingness to want to recover his sight, and more or less refused to participate. The hospital was forced to let him go after he passed a mental test, saying he was technically well enough to be admitted back into the public. Since then he hasn't left his house, preferring to be home-schooled than to return to a public one for the blind. Many psychiatrists visited the house to help rehabilitate Sasuke, but they were all unsuccessful. They thought psychotherapy would work the best with his case, since he had been mentally and physically changed due to the event. And so now they're trying to introduce a more permanent second party to him, to see if a change in environment and people interactions would get him to open up and fix what's wrong.

"Whoa, that's heavy man," Naruto sighed as he skimmed through the more important parts of Sasuke's detailed papers.

"Sasuke isn't necessarily all for this, but after he went back to the hospital for a mandatory mental evaluation last month they found he had slipped below what was acceptable for him to be in the public and around people. The doctors said that he either be re-admitted back into the hospital, or have a therapist or psychiatrist with him at his house every day for at least four hours. He settled on this arrangement." Iruka finished explaining to Naruto as the boy stared at the picture, lost in thought.

"So," he started slowly, getting his thoughts together, "the hospital sent me because they thought I was more age appropriate?"

"That's the idea. Thought it would help him relax if there weren't intimidating adults around him all the time."

"I guess," Naruto said, a bit unsure about the whole arrangement. He handed the folder back to Iruka, but he waved it away.

"You keep that to put all your notes on him in, then turn it into the hospital at the end of every week. Preferably on Saturday they said, around morning. They said this could take weeks, months, or years, but since you were the one ready enough for just about any length of time, they appointed you. Once again, the date is indefinite. It all depends on how fast Sasuke recovers." Iruka sighed. "I just hope you can help."

"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei! I'll do my best! He'll be better in no time!" Naruto exclaimed as he stood up and went to go put the file on his patient away. "Okay! So can we go meet him now?"

"That's probably okay, since he knows we would be coming today," Iruka said as he also stood up. He walked to the door and Naruto followed behind.

"But man, this house is enormous! How can a blind person get around without getting lost?" Naruto said as they walked down the maze of hallways and turns.

"Sasuke has lived in this house since he was born. He was able to memorize his way around before he had went blind, so it wouldn't have been too much more difficult as to moving into a new place all together. It was the day-to-day things that became a hassle. Things like fixing himself food, or taking showers. Those were all things the hospital had showed him how to cope with, and why he was appointed so many caretakers despite their fail-streak."

They had finally stopped in front of a door that had appeared to be at the very back of the house in a corner. A rather large corner. Iruka knocked twice on the door, and after a moments pause they heard someone say "come in."

Iruka pushed the sliding door aside and they both stepped in.

The lights were off in the room, and the windows were covered in dark curtains that stopped any light from sneaking in.

"What the heck? Where are the lights in this place," Naruto grumbled as he searched the wall near him for a switch. In finding it he flicked it on and turned back to look out into the room.

In the middle on the floor was where they found their person. Sasuke was sitting on his futon with his back turned to them. He was wearing what seemed to be pajamas, complete with a dark long-sleeved shirt and long dark pants.

Naruto and Iruka stood there by the door awkwardly, waiting for someone make the first move as they studied the back of their patient and the room they were in. It was very neat, but only carried the simple necessities for daily living. Then again it would have been weird to see anything else when the person living in the room was blind. There wasn't really much point for decorations he couldn't see.

"Sooooo," Naruto tried to begin conversation. Sasuke's head turned slightly to his voice in recognition of their presence. Naruto saw this and took it as a sign to continue. "Uh, hi. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'll be the one staying with you for a while. Nice to meet ya!"

Sasuke didn't respond, only turned his head back the fraction he had moved it in the beginning.

"I'm Iruka Umino from the hospital, we talked earlier this week? I'm just here to make sure everything was okay and help Naruto move in. He'll need a few more days to become situated and then he'll be ready to start some sessions with you." Iruka also tried to start conversation this way, but received even less of a response than Naruto did. After a few more moments of silence Naruto found he couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey come on man, at least say something!" Naruto said as he walked further into the room and around Sasuke so he could fully see his face, and plopped down right in front of him.

From this angle Naruto could study Sasuke better, which would hold far better results than a picture. Just like the picture though, his eyes were still that cold clouded-over black that held the depth of black holes. They weren't focused on anything in particular, naturally because they lacked the ability to do such a thing. His face still held that sunken look to it.

Sasuke had a frown on his face, as he rather disapproved of the sudden intrusion of his personal space. This Naruto Uzumaki person was rather rude, he thought. It wouldn't be long before he was gone.

There was another long pause. Sasuke closed his eyes, almost as if in thought, then opened them again. He held his hand out to where he deemed Naruto would be sitting. At Naruto's confused look Iruka began to explain.

"Since Sasuke can't see he uses his hands to understand how people look. By doing this he can get a pretty good idea of how you look." He nodded towards Sasuke, encouraging Naruto to let him do it.

After understanding dawned on Naruto he scooted forward so he was within reaching distance of Sasuke's hands. He took Sasuke's hand and brought it up to his face so Sasuke could examine it.

He started at his left cheek, then made his way down to Naruto's chin, then back up his nose, traced over his eyes, eyebrows, forehead, and finally the right side of his face. The whole time this was happening Sasuke had his eyes closed, as if trying to paint a picture in his mind of what he was feeling. Once satisfied that he had it right he let his hand fall back into his lap and opened his eyes, however he still showed no interest in speaking to either of them.

"Hey so, do you usually just stay in this room, or what?" Naruto asked to try to get to know Sasuke somewhat. After once again receiving no response Naruto started to get annoyed. "Hey! Helloooooo? Can you speak? Nobody told me you were a mute, too," he said as he got in Sasuke's face even more.

The teen twitched. He could feel Naruto getting closer to him with every word he spoke, which was far too loud for his liking. Why did they have to send the most annoying person they could find? Surely this person wasn't a real-

Sasuke was cut off from his thought when he felt a finger connect with the middle of his forehead, prodding him over and over again. Without even thinking about it, he reached out and grabbed it to stop it from its incessant poking.

This surprised Naruto, much to Sasuke's amusement, but he was still very much annoyed with him feeling he could just touch Sasuke so casually. He began to bend the finger backwards, to emphasize that he didn't like being touched.

"Ow ow ow ow owwww! Okay okay I got it!" Naruto said as he tried to squirm out of Sasuke's grasp.

After he felt he had proven his point Sasuke let go, allowing Naruto to finally take a safe distance away from him, just outside of his current reach.

"Ah, I probably should have warned you, he doesn't really do well with strangers, much less them touching him," Iruka said quietly from the entrance where he still stood.

"Gee, ya think?" Naruto half-yelled at Iruka. "Fine then, I'll just leave you alone in here to be depressed forever, since you seem to love it so much!" Naruto practically stomped back to the entrance where Iruka was waiting, with a sympathetic look, almost as if to say 'this isn't going to be easy, but I wish you luck.'

Had Naruto been watching Sasuke when he said those words he might have seen him flinch and cringe, and get ready to say something. However, the fact that he had missed his chance was known when the lights to his room were turned off and Iruka made his polite good-bye and Naruto just said "Hmph!" and stomped down the hall. His door was slid shut, and once again he was left alone in the darkness.

"Naruto, I don't think I need to remind you that you can't say things like that to him! That's a very sensitive subject!" Iruka chastised as they made their way back to Naruto's room.

"Yeah, whatever! He's just a stuck-up kid!" Naruto huffed in defiance.

"Who's the kid now?" Iruka sighed. "Anyways, I'll have to be getting back to work in a little bit, so I'm going to have to leave you here." Iruka said as they made it back to Naruto's room and he picked up his messenger bag. "Try to be polite with him, and get on his good side. Remember, you're going to be living with him, and his therapist. It wouldn't help any if you're not at least on speaking terms," Iruka almost pleaded with Naruto.

"Yeah I got it, Sorry Iruka-sensei, I'll try harder next time," Naruto said almost as if it pained him to apologize.

Iruka just smiled and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I'll come by later to see how you're doing. After work." And with that he left.

Left to his thoughts Naruto let it travel back to Sasuke's file. This was going to be harder than he thought...


	2. Distant Dinners

Chapter 2: Distant Dinners

Naruto had been left alone for some hours to get accustomed to his new room and the house, and was almost finished unpacking his boxes. The white t-shirt he was wearing had become dampened from sweat. Even his dark khakis were becoming a bit uncomfortable. While left alone to his thoughts, Naruto had tried to think up multiple ways in which to approach Sasuke without upsetting him, and maybe even try to get him to talk back. He thought about just going up to him and trying to strike a conversation through small talk. He could even just try getting him to respond to very simple yes or no questions, anything for him to just talk!

Getting frustrated for the fifth time in not finding an answer he deemed worthy, Naruto sat down to take a break from unpacking. He checked the time on his watch and saw that it was already five o' clock. He had been unpacking since noon. Iruka would be getting off work in an hour or so and head over to the house to check up on him. Maybe he should ask how best to approach someone who refuses to talk while he was there.

Just then, Naruto heard the door to his room slide open. He turned around quickly to see that it was Sasuke standing in his doorway, still dressed in the clothes from before.

"Well, this is surprising. What, you don't knock when you enter someone else's bedroom?" Naruto rudely remarked, in which he immediately mentally slapped himself for. He was supposed to be trying to be polite!

Sasuke only frowned and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He sat in the corner closest to the door and faced the room, staring off into space.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched at this. What was Sasuke doing there? He was pretty sure Sasuke made it clear that he didn't like Naruto, so what was he doing in his room, just sitting down in a random corner like that?

"What exactly is it that you're doing?" Naruto asked with suspicion.

There was silence, where Sasuke looked like he might not even answer. After a while though, it seemed like he was actually debating whether or not to tell Naruto his reason. Finally, he said in a very small voice, "Listening."

"Listening?" His voice sounded like a shout in comparison to Sasuke's. Naruto didn't get it. What was he listening to, or listening for? "Listening to what?"

"...Surroundings," came the quiet, almost inaudible reply.

"Hmm," Naruto hummed in thought. If someone were blind, then their other immediate sense would be sound. In essence, it was the only way he had to interact with his surroundings and understand what was going on, because he couldn't see it. If he could hear it he would have the ability to guess at what was going on. It made sense for Sasuke to want to listen to his surroundings, and perhaps sitting in a room where there was virtually no sound would be a bit much for anyone. He therefore had probably just migrated to a more 'populated' area where sound and activity was taking place so he could just listen to it. It was giving him something to do, in a house where he had lived alone for so long.

Just then Naruto got an idea. He wouldn't approach Sasuke. He had to give Sasuke time to approach _him_, just like he was doing now, albeit a bit distant, the effort was still there. After all, Naruto was the one invading _his_ personal space, _his_ home, and _his_ security. Naruto was the one who still had his sight. He wasn't the one being intimidated, he was _doing_ the intimidating.

_I was always praised for my emotional insight, I guess this is what Iruka-sensei meant, _Naruto thought, wondering how long it would have taken the other doctors to figure that out, if they figured it out at all. Well, there was a reason for him wanting to become a therapist, now, wasn't there?

"So I guess you're just gonna sit there and listen to me while I work, huh?" Naruto asked only to tease Sasuke, who seemed unfazed by it, but still being hesitant in his nod. "That's not fun," Naruto mumbled, but didn't pursue the subject. Instead he went about his business organizing his things, glancing backwards occasionally to see Sasuke's ears twitch in the oddest way, almost as if they were adjusting themselves to better hear what was going on.

Twenty minutes later Naruto was finished with all of his unpacking and stacked up the crushed boxes in a corner for him to take out later. At the moment he just wanted to take a nap.

"Man, I'm so tired!" he said while stretching the kinks out of his back and rolling his shoulders.

Looking to the corner of his room he had completely forgotten that Sasuke was there, he had sat so still and quiet. Right, he couldn't take a nap now, he had to take care of Sasuke. It was getting late, and Naruto hadn't seen him eat anything at all while he was there. Shouldn't they be having dinner right about now?

"Yo," Naruto called out to Sasuke, who in turn visibly jumped. He had spaced out completely in the time he had spent in the room, just listening. He picked up his head in recognition of hearing Naruto, who went on to ask, "You hungry?"

Sasuke lowered his head for a moment before standing up and walking out of the room, leaving the door open behind him.

_Okay, so I really need to figure out what all this nonverbal communication means. It's starting to tick me off, _Naruto thought as he took the open door as a sign for him to follow, which he would have done whether or not Sasuke had left the door open.

Sasuke had made his way to the kitchen where he began rummaging through the cupboards and taking out ingredients. From what Naruto could tell, Sasuke was going to make chow mein, or at least attempt to. Was it even possible for someone who was blind to cook? Naruto certainly didn't think so, though simply the fact that he had memorized where everything in his kitchen was that he needed was impressive in itself. It seemed to Naruto that Sasuke was very capable of taking care of himself.

He therefore found no reason to interrupt Sasuke, and instead decided to sit and observe him. His movements were interestingly different than one would expect. Since most people have never actually seen blind people on a daily basis do things for themselves, they wouldn't really know how they went about finding things. Instead of just directly reaching out for something, Sasuke's hands glided smoothly across the surface of utensils and vegetables as he searched for what he needed. It looked like he was barely touching them. He had pulled out a wok and set it on the stove and turned it on. There were also some specifically chosen vegetables on the cutting board, along with a pack of noodles set upon the counter. Naruto only made a movement to help him when he saw Sasuke take out a rather large knife.

"Hey, do you need help with that?" Naruto shifted uncertainly. Seeing a blind man with a knife was not exactly comforting.

Sasuke said nothing as he used the knife and began cutting up some green and red peppers. Naruto watched with anxiety lining his curiosity. Finally he resigned himself from helping Sasuke with the rather dangerous weapon.

"Do you need me to do anything for you? I mean, I don't want to sit here 'n just do nothing..." Naruto trailed off as he continued to study Sasuke. Constant detailed observation was one of the first things he learned to do as a therapist, and it was an absolute must if one was trying to understand their patient, and find the best way to help them.

"Shrimp. Freezer, bottom shelf. Behind the chicken," Sasuke all but mumbled, but Naruto heard him all the same.

He walked over to the refrigerator and opened the freezer door, looking to where Sasuke had told him to. Not surprisingly the shrimp was where Sasuke said it would be, just behind the chicken. It seemed that being blind also relied a lot on memory as well. Remembering what certain vegetables felt like to know what it was, how far to walk down a hallway before turning so you didn't run into the wall, and knowing where everything in your kitchen is so you could make a decent meal for yourself, like how Sasuke was doing now.

_Probably why he drove his caretakers mad. Imagine if they had moved something and Sasuke went looking for it. I thin he'd be one of those people to get super pissed when someone touches his stuff, especially if he's blind. He would feel like he's at a disadvantage and get rather defensive, enough to just about yell at someone, I bet, to cover for his own insecurity. Over and over again. Especially if he felt like they were doing it on purpose just to mess with him._

Naruto made a mental note to write that down later. He set the shrimp down on the counter next to the noodles Sasuke had taken out earlier.

"So what do I do now?" Naruto asked after watching Sasuke chop up more vegetables. He noted some of them he didn't particularly like. He'd just have to eat around them.

Sasuke pointed to the heated wok on the stove. "In there," he said without pausing in his work.

Naruto took a second look at the shrimp and saw they were already pre-skinned. All he had to do was open the bag and dump them in the wok. They began to sizzle and cook immediately. Sasuke, who had shown up at his side from all the way on the other side of the counter, began dropping some soy sauce on to the shrimp. He handed Naruto a spatula and went back to fixing his vegetables. All this came rather surprisingly to Naruto. Sasuke knew how to do everything by himself. He hadn't even dumped too much sauce in. In fact, it was the perfect amount to cook the flavor into the shrimp. Naruto began stirring them while looking at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye.

After cutting up all the ingredients he wanted, Sasuke transported them over to the wok. He stood there for a moment to hear them sizzle, then moved back over to the noodles he had already been boiling in water as Naruto was cooking the shrimp. He picked a noodle from out of the pot and held it to feel its texture. Satisfied they were ready, Sasuke took out a strainer from a bottom cupboard and put it in the sink. Lining the pot of noodles with the strainer he dumped the noodles in. After all the water had seeped through the holes Sasuke took the strainer full of noodles over to the wok and dumped them in. This time he poured in a measured amount of soy sauce over the noodles, along with some other ingredients Naruto didn't know. The bottles they were in were written in braille and very oddly shaped, each one specifically different from the others. Naruto had only recognized the soy sauce because of its smell.

After all the ingredients were in the wok Sasuke took over, taking the spatula from Naruto and mixing everything together and occasionally even flipping the wok. Obviously he was no amateur cook.

The noodles cooked a bit longer before Sasuke turned off the stove and moved the wok off the burner. Taking down two plates he put a fairly generous amount onto both of them. He also took down two cups, poured tea, and took out two pairs of chopsticks from one of the many drawers. Naruto decided to just stay out of his way. Sasuke was obviously trying to show that just because he was blind did not mean he was incapable. Naruto had no objections, and just let him do as he pleased.

After he had set everything up Sasuke took a plate, cup and pair of chopsticks and moved to the dining room connected to the kitchen by some open sliding doors. Naruto took the other set and followed in suit.

The dining room had a low-set table, with cushions instead of chairs. It was a small square table that sat four people comfortably. It looked very strange and a bit out of place in the large room. Resting up against the wall were extensions for the table for when there was company over. They were covered in a thin layer of dust, hinting that not many visitors came this way too often, if at all.

Sasuke had sat down on the left side of the table and was getting ready to eat without waiting for Naruto. Naruto walked over to the opposite side of the table and sat there, facing Sasuke. He was debating whether or not to strike up conversation, or wait for Sasuke to get comfortable with Naruto being around all the time. He didn't want to come on too strongly too fast, but he probably blew that chance anyways earlier in the day. Once again he mentally slapped himself for it. He would have to try harder than that if he was going to help Sasuke.

Deciding just to relax for a while he began to eat after a polite 'ittadakimasu.' With Sasuke's obvious Japanese-orientation, the way the house was designed, and the food cooked, Naruto decided Sasuke was one of the more traditional people, and to just be careful and follow all the traditions of a Japanese household to further avoid upsetting Sasuke, though Naruto hadn't heard Sasuke say anything he might have just missed it because he talks so softly.

He was halfway through his meal when he noticed Sasuke stopped eating. He was also only halfway done. Naruto watched as Sasuke stared in his general direction.

"Somethin' wrong?" Naruto finally asked.

"You keep shifting it. Your food." Sasuke said after a short pause. "You don't like vegetables." It wasn't a question, Sasuke made a statement, like he already knew.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry, but I don't really like red peppers," Naruto laughed a bit nervously. Had he offended Sasuke by not eating them? More importantly, how did he know Naruto wasn't eating them? Just by listening to him eat? That was impossible!

Sasuke didn't say anything else. It seemed like the only reason he had spoken at all was to confirm his suspicions. He continued eating after that, and didn't say anything more for the rest of the meal.

It was then that Naruto heard the door bell from the front of the house.

"I'll get it," Naruto said, already getting up. He was happy Sasuke gave no objections, and walked out the doors to open the front door.

It was Iruka, who had come right over from work to check-up on Naruto and see everything was okay.

"Ya every thing's fine, Iruka-sensei. We're just eating dinner right now. You hungry?" Naruto asked as they walked back to the dining room.

"Oh, well I don't really want to be rude and interrupt your meal," Iruka said rather nervously.

"Ya right! Come on, it's fine! Not like he's talking much anyways. And you gotta be hungry from just getting off work," Naruto pleaded so Iruka would stay a little while longer.

"Well, if you insist. I am a bit hungry," Iruka admitted.

"Great! There's some chow mein in the kitchen, so help yourself while I go check on him," Naruto said as they parted ways.

Upon returning to the dining room Naruto found that Sasuke was already done with the rest of his meal, plate completely clean. He was getting up to take his plate to the kitchen when Naruto walked in. He had to pause a second to confirm who it was that had walked in, listening to the way they stepped. When he confirmed it was just Naruto he continued his way to the kitchen without even waiting for Naruto to tell him who it was that was at the door. He was pretty sure it was Iruka anyways. No one else had come around his house in half a year besides that man.

Naruto sat back down in front of his plate as he watched Sasuke walk into the kitchen where he heard Iruka by the wok serving himself. He placed his plate, cup, and chopsticks in the sink, washed them, and then placed them in the drying rack. He then walked out a door in the kitchen that was connected to the hallway, with no recognition of Iruka's presence whatsoever. No doubt he was heading back to his dark room in the corner of the house.

Iruka walked in to the dining room a few minutes later holding his food and sat to the left of Naruto, his back to the kitchen.

"Man, you should see him, Iruka-sensei. This guy's pretty capable of taking care of himself. He basically cooked the whole meal!" Naruto said, eager to share what he had witnessed in the kitchen earlier.

"By himself, what do you mean?" Iruka inquired as he began to eat.

"I mean, he was able to do everything just like if he was able to see. He was even able to use this huge knife without even cutting himself!" Naruto exclaimed, and Iruka choked.

"You let him use a knife? Naruto, what are you thinking?" Iruka began, his voice raising at Naruto.

"Well, it's not like I coulda stopped him! I asked him if he needed help, but he didn't say a thing. I watched him the entire time he was cutting up the vegetables, but he didn't make one mistake. I'm tellin' ya that guy's an expert at being blind." Naruto commented at Iruka's exasperated look.

He sighed at Naruto's choice of words. "I"m not sure you would call it being an expert at being blind. More like he's just gotten used to it after all the years, and knows his strengths and weaknesses. It's like if you were to lose a finger, say, your pinky on your writing hand. You would still be able to write, but at first it would be very difficult and feel uncomfortable. But after a while you just get used to it and your handwriting eventually goes back to normal, right?" Iruka explained.

"Only this is a more extreme situation than that, but ya I get it, I guess," Naruto nodded, not wanting to admit he only understood half of what Iruka was saying.

"But I am a bit surprised he can cook to this level of difficulty without any assistance," Iruka complimented as he ate another bite of the noodles. It really was good.

"Well the only thing I did was put the shrimp in the wok, and he just took over from there," Naruto stated as he finished his meal and said thanks.

"Well I'm very impressed, but I guess I can't say surprised anymore. Now that I think about it, it's only to be expected. I've seen some people walking around barely having to use their canes. After a while you just become accustomed to it, and it becomes a part of life. Instead of going around a problem, you change it so things fit with you and your situation. It's only natural that Sasuke's done the same thing. The periods in between caretakers he's lived alone, so he would have had to take care of himself for those times. And he hasn't had another one for about six months."

"Ya I also saw that in his report. Which reminds me, Iruka-sensei you said he was prone to bouts of rage and things like that, and his file said he _often _attacks the people in his home. In fact, every person who has ever come to this house has reported being attacked tin some way. But he hasn't been any hostile with me at all," Naruto said, noting the strangeness of the situation.

"Well, I don't doubt that your time will come to pass. After all, you're the only person that's ever lived with him since the incident eleven years ago. Before he gets used to you he's probably going to attack you," Iruka tried not to make Naruto nervous, but there really was no other way to say it.

"Most likely?" Naruto asked.

"Most _definitely." _Iruka answered. "The therapists before you said it was his way to see if they were any threat to him in his own home, and to show them that he was one to be reckoned with. He's very skilled in some arts of combat I've been told. And somewhere around the house he has a sword I believe, but one of the caretakers previous took it away from him and hid it. They never told him where it was before they left so it's either still hidden or he has it. What I'm trying to say is Naruto, try not to sleep while he's awake, okay?"

Naruto's mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe he was hearing all of this for the first time! After he'd moved in and everything!

"And you tell me this _now, _WHY?" Naruto yelled. Iruka just laughed nervously.

"Better late than never? I'm sorry, but if I had told you before you moved in you wouldn't have wanted to come anymore, and the hospital had already run out of personnel to take care of Sasuke, you were our only hope!" Iruka tried feebly to quickly explain as Naruto sent him a death glare.

"So you'd rather I die by some crazy blind kid than just giving me a normal assignment?" Naruto whined.

"I doubt you'll _die_, Naruto. The hospital's already warned Sasuke about hurting you-"

"And you really think that's gonna stop him? I was fine with him attacking me since I can defend myself, but if he's gonna try to chop off my head in the middle of the night, then I'd rather sleep outside!" Naruto huffed as he tried to settle his anger. "How am I supposed to know when he's awake and when he's asleep anyways?"

"Well, if you look at his file again, some of his previous therapists and whatnot have all made notes to him sleeping, and found a relatively stable pattern. You should be able to get by with that." Iruka said as he watched Naruto pout in a look that bordered fear and defiance.

"Oh gee, thanks, _sensei. _Anything else you wanna tell me?" Naruto asked mockingly, but still hoping there really wasn't anything else.

"Oh, right. You might not want to let him in your room for extended periods of time. If he's in there long enough he'll be able to understand the layout of your room better, so it'll make it easier for him to attack you at night. Many caretakers were constantly moving around furniture so he couldn't attack them so easily without bumping into something. But since he hasn't really shown much interest in you, he shouldn't have really had a reason to go to your room, right?"

Naruto stared at him in disbelief, then hung his head in despair.

"I'm doomed."

_How do you all like this idea? Tell me if you like it or not by clicking that beautiful button below._

_And I may or may not continue. JK. I'm continuing no matter what.  
><em>

_-Xenophili_


	3. Connections

Chapter 3: Connections

Sasuke Uchiha was beyond beside himself with rage to know that he would have to be sharing his house with a complete stranger that would once again try and 'fix' him. How could could he have let this happen? There was absolutely no excuse for him to have failed that evaluation at the hospital. It was just full of retarded pictures and questions that had no point, or even made any sense!

So, why! Why was he in this position? He didn't want some stuck-up retard living in his house, messing with all his stuff, moving shit around just to mess with him because he was blind. He was going to have to show him that he was not going to have any of this. That's why Sasuke had spent twenty full minutes in that person's room - Naruto, was his name? It didn't really matter, anyways – just to make sure that when he paid a visit to his room that night he would know exactly where he was going. He was just glad he had found his sword a few days ago. Who would put it on top of a bookshelf, anyways? A sick joke really, because he couldn't read.

Whatever, it didn't matter now. Sasuke ran his fingers over the clock he kept by his futon and noted that it read a little past midnight. He had to have been asleep by now, Sasuke thought as he gripped his sword on his lap. It was a good thing his sleep schedule was all backwards to that of normal people. This minimized the amount of interaction he had with them, the small amount that ever stepped inside the house. Asleep during the day, awake during the night. Living in darkness for what felt like most of his life, Sasuke found he sought comfort in it, and despised the sun. He couldn't see it anyways, so what did it matter? Light never found his eyes. Even when Naruto had turned on the lights in his room he still saw the same amount of darkness. It never changed, and he never planned for it to. Anyways, it was time for him to go and give his 'roommate' a 'proper greeting.'

As he made his way down the hallway he counted his steps and made the appropriate turns. After a short while he stood outside Naruto's bedroom door, and paused only to listen for the sound of Naruto's breathing. He heard it. Naruto was in there, sleeping, and completely unaware of what was about to happen.

Sasuke slid the door open as quietly as he could and slid his foot into the room. Immediately he knew there was something wrong. His foot touched the edge of something. It felt like one of the drawers that had been placed in the room. Holding out his hand his fingers touched the top of it. So, Naruto had decided to block the entrance of his room huh? That doctor must have told him about his assault record, but it didn't matter. Something like this wouldn't stop him. In fact, it worked to his advantage. If Naruto tried to get away he would have stopped himself. Perfect.

With one hand Sasuke swung himself over the dresser in one swift movement, landing on the other side on his toes so quietly you wouldn't have known he'd done it if you weren't watching. That was exactly what he was aiming for, but he knew this was no longer going to be as easy as he originally thought. With the dresser moved, no doubt Naruto would no longer have kept the futon in the middle of the room. He stood still for a moment, zoning in on Naruto's breathing to pinpoint its source. He heard it coming from the opposite corner of the room, and began sliding his feet across the floor in that direction.

Many times his toes touched items that had been purposefully placed on the floor. If he had stepped on them they no doubt would have made enough noise to wake up Naruto. Thankfully he was smart enough to only be walking fast enough to nudge them a bit before walking around them.

Finally he reached the edge of Naruto's futon, where the snoring was loudest. Unsheathing his sword Sasuke held it over Naruto, readying his stance so as to ensure a perfect clean stab. As he lifted the sword higher to put more force behind his attack he heard Naruto shift in bed. A moment later though his snoring returned, and Sasuke couldn't help but smile.

_Too easy._

He lifted his sword up higher, then plunged down, waiting for the moment for when it connected with... what?

His sword did indeed connect with something, but it was soft. Too soft to be human flesh. He pulled his sword back out of the futon he had just stabbed and 'tsked' as he heard a laugh come from the general direction he was facing.

"Miss your mark?" Naruto. Damn sneak, he was only pretending to be asleep!

_Good thing I never fell asleep, _Naruto thought. He was practically hyperventilating. He didn't even hear Sasuke come in. If he hadn't heard the sword being unsheathed, Naruto was certain he would have had a hole in him by now. Instead he had used that opportunity to pretend to be moving in his sleep, but had actually rolled all the way off his futon to completely avoid getting stabbed, but still only barely dodged the blade. He tried to keep his voice calm, but couldn't keep out the underlying tone of exasperation. It didn't escape Sasuke's notice, and he smirked.

He swung his sword around to better position it, and pointed towards where Naruto's voice had come from, and the point was almost touching Naruto's nose. Naruto couldn't help going pale.

"You escaped it once, but you won't be so lucky next time." Sasuke said as his sword closed the space between it and Naruto's nose. Upon making contact Naruto flinched backwards, and the noise set off Sasuke's senses. He shifted himself to ready for another attack.

Naruto saw it coming and ducked as the sword punctured a hole in wall where his head had been mere seconds before. As Sasuke was focusing on retracting his sword Naruto pulled his feet from under him and Sasuke landed on his back, with multiple items set between him and the floor that were going to leave odd indentations and bruises on his back. Before the pounding in his head subsided long enough for Sasuke to focus his hearing he had been flipped onto his stomach with his hands held behind him. Naruto was tying his hands together with rope he had sitting in the corner of the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke said through a muffled voice as his mouth was firmly connected to the floor.

"Making sure I live to see another day," Naruto said as he finished tying up Sasuke's hands and stepped away from him. He went and grabbed Sasuke's sword from the wall and put it back in its sheath before going to turn the lights on. When he had walked back to Sasuke the teen had already sat himself up from the floor and was working to get the rope off.

"Hey, can you just sit still for one moment?" Naruto asked pointedly as Sasuke set a permanent scowl on his face. He seemed completely different from the person he had been earlier that day. "What happened to you? Your personality just turned around a full 180!" Naruto asked as he sat in front of where Sasuke was facing. He glared in Naruto's direction.

"You're not worth my time. I didn't feel like talking to you if I didn't have to," Sasuke 'tsked' again as he was still trying to get the ropes off.

Naruto sighed and placed Sasuke's sword on the floor next to him. He saw Sasuke's ear twitch to the noise.

"And what, now all of a sudden I've become 'worthy'?" Naruto asked mockingly.

Sasuke stopped in his struggle and smirked wickedly. "For now, you're at least someone of interest. No one's been able to dodge my sword. Not twice in a row anyways." Naruto noted that Sasuke seemed particularly proud of this fact, and Naruto seriously began to worry for his life even more than before, if that was even possible.

"So you pretended to be aloof and innocent, giving everyone the silent treatment while you secretly planned out our deaths?" Naruto asked accusingly.

"That was the plan," Came Sasuke's genuine and truthful answer. Naruto had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could speak again. Was this guy a psychopath?

"Okay, well, moving right along. I've decided to hold our very first session, right here, right now," Naruto said as he got up and moved to the dresser in the room that wasn't blocking the door. Sasuke followed him with the turn of his head.

"What," Sasuke stated threateningly.

"You heard me," Naruto said as he sat back down in front of Sasuke with a pen and pad of paper. "Your first therapy session. Thought it would be perfect to start with why you think you feel the need to attack everyone who comes into your home."

"Like I would explain anything to you," Sasuke turned his head away and grinded his teeth together. "Besides, that stupid folder you have should tell you everything you need to know about me. So what the hell's the point in asking a question you already know the answer to?"

"Because the answer came from idiots who obviously didn't know what they were doing."

Naruto's answer surprised Sasuke, who wasn't expecting him to ridicule the other therapists, much less answer at all. But he wouldn't let it phase him, and didn't let is show. Instead he settled into a state of indifference. "Whatever."

"So, will you tell me?" Naruto asked, almost hopefully.

"No," was Sasuke's simple reply. Even though he had to admit that Naruto was different than the retards who had used by-the-book methods to try to get him to open up and just share all of his problems with them, he wasn't going to let Naruto think he had the upper hand. Even though it was Sasuke who was tied up. How was he supposed to know the guy was skilled like he was? Of course not on his level, Sasuke would never admit anyone was, Naruto was still at least one to show caution around when he tried to kill him next time.

Naruto sighed and placed his pen and notepad down on the floor. He looked directly at Sasuke when he spoke to him. "Look, we're going to be living together for a while-"

"Unless I kill you first," Sasuke said just to get under Naruto's skin.

Naruto paused for a second and closed his eyes, took a small breath, and started again. This time Sasuke didn't interrupt. "We're going to be living together for a while, and my job is to help you get better. And I'm not gonna be leaving until I get my answers. Now whether or not you give them to me is up to you, but just so you know, if you fail your next mental evaluation you will not get the choice to live at home by yourself anymore. You will be forcibly admitted to the mental hospital, labeled permanently mentally unstable, and never allowed out into the public again. In fact, if you fail _any_ mental evaluation test from now on, it's straight to the fluffy room for you."

Sasuke was stunned. He didn't know what to say. Nobody had told him that!

"The hospital didn't want me telling you this. They said it would interfere with the results of your tests, but you have a right to know what happens to you, that's why I'm tellin' ya, so don't make me regret it." Naruto paused to see if he would get an affirmative from Sasuke, but Sasuke made no move to acknowledge a 'yes' or a 'no' that he understood. Naruto continued.

"I want to help you, I really do. And not because it's my job. I hate to see people suffering, which is why I became a therapist in the first place. To help people like you. But I can't do that if you don't want to help yourself first."

Sasuke could feel the dull anger rise up inside of him. Help himself? "I don't want to be helped!" He yelled off in a direction somewhere to the floor next to Naruto as his eyes directed he was doing, but it had all the same effect as if he were looking directly into the therapists eyes. "I don't _need _any help! Everyone thinks there's something fucking wrong with me, without ever asking if I actually _prefer_ to be blind, which yes, I do! I'd rather sit and stare at the darkness, let it eat away at my sight for the rest of my life, then see again. The world is disgusting, cold, and ugly. I don't _want_ to see again, and I don't _need _to see again. There's nothing wrong with me! I'm perfectly sane!"

"Do you honestly believe that killing another human being is something a sane person would do," Naruto asked in a fierce, yet controlled tone of voice that once again shocked Sasuke. After he got over that he focused on what was actually said, and a second wave of shock washed over him, and he cringed inwardly as memories began coming back to him and a pain started building up behind his eyes. "I didn't ask for a report on what happened eleven years ago because I respected your privacy too much to just simply read your history and pretend like I completely understood you. But now I can tell that it has very extreme connections to death, and the people you loved, since you live by yourself. I wanted to hear your story Sasuke, from you yourself. But only when you were ready to let me know. Don't make me regret that."

Naruto got up and walked around the still stunned Sasuke and untied his hands. The rope slid off, but Sasuke still sat there, too fazed to come back to reality. Naruto used this opportunity to move the dresser back away from in front of the sliding door, and back to its original place in its corner. Sasuke was still staring off into silent space as Naruto took his sword and placed it by his punctured futon to keep safe until morning when he could hide it.

"I'm not going to force you to do anything you're not ready for, nor will I invade much of your personal space when not absolutely necessary, but only if you can do the same for me. That includes no attempts at my life, or attacking me anymore. This is your house, and I understand that I'm less than welcome here. I'm not forcing you to retrieve your sight either. If you want to stay the way you are physically, then that is all your choice. The only thing I am here for is to help you regain your much needed sanity, which I think you also miss to some degree. Am I wrong?" Naruto was standing once again in front of Sasuke, who had eventually come back to the present from his trip to the past.

He frowned, apparently one of his more favorite expressions, and stood up from his place on the floor and faced Naruto as best he could, eyes lost looking somewhere on Naruto's chest. "What color is your hair?"

"Uh, what?" Naruto was taken a bit aback at the random question. What did hair color have to do with anything?

Sasuke became irritated at finding he had to repeat himself. "Your hair. What color is it?"

"Yellow, blond." Naruto stated a bit dumbly.

"And your eyes. What color are they."

"Blue." Naruto wondered where this line of questioning was headed. "Why?"

Sasuke contemplated something before asking another question. "What color are my eyes?"

"They're black."

"Like?"

"Huh?" Naruto wasn't sure what Sauske meant by that.

"What would you compare them to. Truthfully. When you look at my eyes, what do they remind you of?" Sasuke had asked every therapist, every doctor, everyone who had come into contact with him the same question, and every time they had lied to him about what they truly felt and gave him some dumb explanation. Depending on how Naruto answered would depend on whether or not he would try to kill him again.

Naruto began an explanation without even a moments pause, and didn't falter in his speech. "Black holes. Dark, cold. As if you've never seen the light before, and from what I've just learned, you don't ever want to, which adds to the intensity of the darkness and despair that seems to extend and connect to the very bottom your soul. Something you can only get from negative emotions left to sit and grow, continuously eating away at who you used to be has rooted itself there in your heart. I can't see any part of you in your eyes that even hints you've ever been happy before in your life."

Sasuke could say nothing. Was that really how Naruto saw it? Or was he just lying? Perhaps he was just saying it to piss him off, but then again Naruto hadn't said it with any venom, or even a mocking tone. No, Naruto had been completely serious, and for some reason, he accepted it. Though he would never admit it to him.

"But, I think that everyone is capable of being saved, even if the source of the pain is themselves." Naruto said, and Sasuke could practically hear the smile in his voice, and knew it was genuine. Sasuke knew that Naruto truly cared about helping him, even if they hadn't even known each other a full twenty four hours.

"I see," Sasuke said, and began walking to the door.

"Hey, where're you going?" Naruto called out after him, and Sasuke stopped at the entrance.

"To bed, stupid. I'm tired now," and with that he stepped out and slid the door closed behind him. As he began making his way down the hallway to his bedroom he called out to Naruto, saying "You can hold on to my sword for a while. I guess I really don't feel like killing you after all."

It all but made Naruto smile.

He had made a connection.


End file.
